Michigan Republican presses Chavez-DeRemer to rescind Biden-era labor regulations

House Committee on Education and Workforce Chairman Tim Walberg (R-Mich.) is pressing the Department of Labor (DOL) Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer to rescind several former President Biden-era labor regulations to improve, in his view, the lives of workers, job seekers and retirees.

Walberg, who was elected as the committee’s chairman in December last year, said he is eager to work with DOL, Chavez-DeRemer, a former House lawmaker who represented Oregon's fifth congressional district, and President Trump’s administration to “improve training opportunities for workers, to expand access to health care, and to develop more robust compliance assistance.”

"I encourage DOL to enforce its laws while providing robust compliance assistance to workers and businesses instead of continuing the enforcement-only approach taken by the Biden-Harris administration," Walberg said in a Wednesday letter to Chavez-DeRemer shared with The Hill.

The House Republican, who represents Michigan’s fifth Congressional District, outlined several “burdensome” regulations developed during Biden’s term that Chavez-DeRemer needs to rescind or withdraw.

One of them, under the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), is the Fiduciary rule that was finalized last year, which specifies that it applies "when fiduciary status is given to a person who gives investment advice for a fee to an investor in a workplace retirement plan (such as a 401(k) plan), an individual retirement account, or other type of retirement plan."

Walberg asked the DOL secretary to rescind the requirements under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, a law that requires health insurance issuers that provide substance use disorder or mental health benefits are not more restrictive than those for surgical benefits.

In the 3-page letter, the Michigan legislator encouraged Chavez-DeRemer to rescind the Wage and Hour Division’s (WHD) final rules on expanding overtime pay protections, prevailing wage overhaul, the minimum wage for federal contractors, non-displacement of qualified workers under service contracts, independent contractors and tip regulations under the air Labor Standards Act.

Two rules under the Occupational Safety and Health Administration - worker walkaround representative designation process and changes to the recordkeeping rule - should also be revoked, according to Walberg’s letter.

"The Secretary is eager to work closely with her former colleagues on the Committee to find commonsense solutions that will boost our economy and put American Workers First," said DOL spokesperson Courtney Parella in an emailed statement to The Hill.

Office of Workers Compensation Programs' final rule - RIN 1240-AA16 - related to the self-insurance by coal mine operators should be rescinded, along with the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs' final rule that repealed the rule from the first Trump administration to broaden the religious exemption for federal contractors.

Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) proposed rules - Heat Injury and Illness Prevention in Outdoor and Indoor Work Settings that require employers to create a plan to evaluate and control heat hazards in their workplace and the Emergency response rule should be shot down, Walberg proposed in the letter.

Apart from the rules, Walberg also told the DOL secretary to “consider” six “issues of concern” that the Committee on Education and Workforce, which Chavez-DeRemer served on during her single term in the lower chamber, “raised in previous correspondence” with the department.

Those six are the return of federal workers to the office, the use of taxpayer money for “federal employee unions’ priorities,” Employee Benefits Security Administration’s “inefficient, overly aggressive, and limitless enforcement efforts,” the DOL’s personnel giving private information to plaintiffs’ lawyers, leaking the Bureau of Labor Statistics data and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation “overpayments to multiemployer pension plans for deceased beneficiaries.”

“In your new role, I encourage you to consider the issues raised in this letter and to remain in proactive contact with the Committee as other agenda items arise,” the Michigan lawmaker said to Chavez-DeRemer in the letter.

Chavez-DeRemer, who was confirmed to her post on March 10, shared last week that the DOL employees have to comply with Trump’s policies and fulfill the department’s mission of protecting “rights and ensure safe working conditions; ensure proper wages for all American workers; promote employee training; improve working conditions; advance opportunities for job growth; and assure work-related benefits including pensions.”

The former Oregon representative said the DOL has to focus on “fiscal responsibility,” cutting “unnecessary” spending and optimizing its resources to make sure the funds are "utilized effectively.”

Chavez-DeRemer said the department, which has over 16,000 workers, has saved $125 million, according to an internal memo the secretary sent to DOL's senior staff obtained by The Hill.

“I urge each of you to conduct a review of your budgets and operations and identify opportunities for cost savings that can be redirected toward initiatives that directly benefit the American worker and businesses that drive our economy,” she said in the March 12 memo.

Chavez-DeRemer, in the memo, said she looked forward to meeting "all of you individually to discuss your agency priorities and how we can collectively advance the Department’s mission.”

"I look forward to collaborating to create a positive impact on the lives of millions of workers and their families,” she said in the one-page memo. “Let’s get to work.”

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